对最危险的游戏的主旨分析

1、Zhu8Course: Short story reading Class number: 16101501 Name: 朱思维 Student number: 2015303436 Instructor: Professor Yang Date：4th, 12, 2016The Evil in “The Most Dangerous Game”The Most Dangerous Game is a short story that which was written by Richard Connell. It tells readers a story about a horrible

2、experience of a man who is called Rainsford. He is a hunter who is going to hunt jaguar with his friends. However, he falls into the sea accidentally. Then he is washed up to a land on the shore .He is waked by the shots.He follows it and finds a castle. In there he meets two men, one is called Zaro

3、ff and the other is called Ivan. Rainford soon finds that the huntees of Zaroff are human. He wants to leave while the only way he can leave this island is to play the game with Zaroff and he must win him, or he will be killed. In the end, Rainsford wins the game and kills Zaroff. It seems to be an

4、ironic story that Rainsford is going to hunt while he is hunted by Zaroff. But after reading the end of this short story, reader can easily see that almost every part of it indicates the evil of human. The evil of the people in this short story is the main tone of the story.I explain the evil of the

5、 human in plots, characters, special things and language of this novel based on Xunzi stheoryof Human Dispositions are Detestabl(eXunzi, Wikipedia ).This theory believes that the nature of the human is bad.By analyzing these evil things, I want to pass readers a warning: The evil of human is horribl

6、e, watch out the animal in our hearts.The first part is the plots. The author uses suspense, special plots to promote the developments of story and inform readers about the evil of the people in this short story.At the beginning the author gives readers three suspense. The first suspense is that the

7、 mysterious land, which is mentioned by Rainsfords friend Whitey, successfully raises the interests of readers and tells readers where the story happens. It also exaggerates horrible atmosphere at the main time it also sets the tone of the whole story.The second suspense is that the huntees of Zarof

8、f are human. The huntees of Zaroff also are mysterious, but readers can guess vaguely what it is. In order to ensure their answer is right, they will keep reading. It also creates the conflicts between Zaroff and Rainsford, pushing the storyline. In addition, the answer also shows the cruelty of Zar

9、off. Readers can understand more completely the evil of these people from this part.The third suspense is that the chance of Rainsford wins the game. The author does not tell reader clearly about Rainfords route. In the contrast, he leaves this question to readers. In this way reader will read the e

10、ntire story out of curiosity. The ending is unexpected but reasonable, which also precedes the story to the climax. What is more, this ending also indicates readers that Rainsford also becomes a cruel person as Zaroff. At first, Rainsford firmly believes that human cannot be regarded as animals. How

11、ever, finally he also treats Zaroff as animal and kills him. This changealso shows the evil of human vividly.In a word, the writer makes readers get involved in this story through this suspense. Especially when all these suspense are explained, people know this island is actually a Ship-Trap Island.

12、 At this time reader will feel how horrible the evil of human is and how important to be aware of it.In spite of the suspense, there are also many special plots to help people to figure out puzzles. The most exciting plot is the three battles between Zaroff and Rainsford. According to these battles,

13、 the reader can actually see the change of Rainsford. At first, he is a proud man who thinks animals do not have emotions. But when he becomes the huntee of Zaroff, he realizes that animals also have emotion and become a real animal who wants to attack Zaroff. Although the writer never tells readers

14、 that Rainsford becomes as cruel as Zaroff, readers can see by themselves. As for Zaroff, he totally shows his cruelty in this game. In order to kill Rainsford he can sacrifice Ivan and his favorite dog. He even can drink wine after killing people. These plots make readers be able to observe the rea

15、l meaning of this story: the evil of human can be extremely bad even beyond peoples imagination.After the analysis of plots, some readers may doubt whether these plots are reasonable. Does the author write these just in order to catch people attention? Are they reasonable?The answer is definitely Ye

16、sFirst is the real identity of island. The author does not suddenly tell readers that his island is a slaughterhouse for sailors. Literally he uses many factors to imply readers, such as the Captain Nielsens reaction to this island, the doubtful light and the special location of the island. These th

17、ings indirectly tell readers that this island is unusual and there must have some secrets not be reported by person.Next is the huntees is human. Although Connell does not tell reader directly, he uses many symbols. For example, Rainsford has found an empty cartridge which can be put in twenty two b

18、ullets. This is kind of odd because if a hunter wants to hunt a normal animal, he will not use as many as twenty two bullets. So this animal is either fairly large animal or very smart animal. Rainsford also finds a piece of blood-stained clothing and it is impossible that animals wear clothes in th

19、is landThe most obvious evidence is Zaroffs words. He says this animal can think and only people are able to think. Combing these clues, it is easy to guess the huntee is human.The last thing is whether Rainsfords died or not. In the end, Rainsford leaps far out into the sea so almost everyone inclu

20、ding Zaroff thinks that he died. But according to Rainsfords rich hunting experiences readers can guess there is still the chance for Rainsford to survive. Besides, when Zaroff goes up to his bedroom, he sees some moonlight that indicates that the curtain is not being drawn up. So it provides the op

21、portunity for Rainsford to hide behind the curtain.Anyway, according to these analyses, readers can see Mr. Connell is a very logical writer. In other words, all these suspense and special plot are used to stress theevil of human. With the help of these plots, readers can understand deeply about the

22、 evil of human.In spite of these plots, the descriptions of characters also play an essential role in promoting the development of story and deepening the evil of the human. There are three main characters in the article, Zaroff, Rainsford and Ivan. These people represent two different powers.Accord

23、ing to the description of writer readers can easily know that Zaroff andIvan represent the evil part of human nature. Zaroff is a symbol of evil. As we all know, the personalities of a person are invisible; however, these can also be expressed in his appearance, behaviors, actions and languages.As f

24、or his appearance, the writer gives them a brief introduction of him. An erect, sl“ender man in evening clothes with a cultivated voice marked by a sight accent that gave it added precision and deliberateness”. It paints a picture o af polite gentleman from first class and no one will believe that h

25、e is a bad person. He treats Rainsford politely and enjoys wine which shows he is a truly gentlemen. Even in the end he still obeys his deal, in this way, he is a good-behavior person.However, Rainsford gives them a more specific picture of Zaroff and notices something wrong. Th“e man was singularly

26、 handsome; his second was that there was an original, almost bizarre quality about the general s face his thickeyebrows and pointed mustache was as black as the night from which Rainsfordhad come. His eyes, too, were black and very bright. He had high cheek bones, a sharp cut nose, a spare darken fa

27、c eth e face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocra”t. By contrastin gthese two types of descriptions of Zaroff, it is not hard to see that Zaroff is not an easy going person. His impressive face shows that he is aggressive and loves controlling others.But people cannot judge someo

28、ne just according their appearance. So the nation and the action of the Zaroff also need to pay attention. Zaroff is a Cossack and the most famous characteristic of Cossack is aggressive. What s more, he is proud of hisnation s tradition very much because he is smiling when he says that he is also a

29、 Cossack. This detail shows that he admires his nation which indicates he is cruel,Besides, his action informs people that he is evil. For example, there is a description in the article. He“ made his way along with his eyes fixed in utmost concentration on the ground before him. He paused, almost be

30、neath the tree, dropped to his knees and studied the gro.u”nd This description shows that Zaroff has rich experience in hunting and he just treats Rainsford as a normal huntee. The way he treats Rainsford shows his cruelty and his indifference to human s life. What is worit also informs the reader t

31、hat Zaroff gets used to kill human. This action illustrates the evil of people.What is more, He never respects any creature in this world because he thinks these heads mean glory. Even when his loyal servant Ivan died, he just thinks that it is difficult to find someone to replace him. There is stil

32、l one thing to pay attentions: Thel anguage of Zaroff. Connell describes Zaroff s language in detail. For instance, Zaroffalways stresses that he is the king of hunting and there is no animal has a chance with him. What worse, he thinks the people who are killed by him are the scum of the“earth” . H

33、e has an extremer sense of superior, he even saTysh:e re is no great“er bore than perfection”. The writer illustrates the ov-ecronfidence of Zaroff in order to imply that in the end he will be defeated by Rainsford.In sum, although Zaroff has handsome appearance and good behavior outside,his inside

34、is extremely brutal and bloody. His behaviors and values have shaped sharpcompare contrast. He always says that he is civilized and wants to build civilization here, but in fact this so-called civilization is extremely a savage civilization. According to the analysis readers can see that almost ever

35、y part of him is evil.However, this evil person also has a loyal servant Ivan, who is as cruel as Zaroff.According to Rainsford, Ivan is the largest man he had ever seen-a gigantic creature, solidly made and black bearded to the wa iRset.aders can soon know that Ivan is a tough man.ByCombining his a

36、ction, readers can observe the evilness of him completelyWhen Zaroff force Rainsford to make a choice between he and Ivan, Ivan juststands there, scowling, his thick arms crossed on his hogshead of c.h Tehsits action also stresses that he is a cruel man. Besides, his evil is also confined to he know

37、s that Zaroff is killing people but he still helps him, in other words, he is Zaroffsaccomplice.Although Ivan is evil, he is at least loyal to Zaroff. No matter what happens, he still protects Zaroff and tries his best to serve him. Unfortunately, Zaroff never treats Ivan as an important person to h

38、im. He just treats him as a useful tool. In this way, Ivan is better than Zaroff.However, the last character Rainsfords has polar personalities. He represents both justice and evil. Unlike Zaroff, the writer does not describe Rainsfords appearance in detail but he uses many sentences to picture the

39、changes in Rainsfords heart. Readers can find that in the beginning, he used to be a man who firmly believes human is different from animal and refuses to kill people as huntee. At this stage, it seems that Rainsford still represents the power of justice. Although at first readers might think Rainsf

40、ord is a good man, actually he is as evil ad Zaroff. When his role changes and becomes the huntnee of Zaroff. At this time, it is undoubted that he becomes as cruel as Zaroff. For example, he uses hisM alay Mantcatcherkills Ivan. His evil also reflects in that he kills Zaroff indirectly and shows no

41、 mercy. In fact, he can just leave without killing Zaroff. In the end he says I am still a beast at bay ,at this time, he has become a total animal.The evil of Rainsford is not only reflected in the way he kills people but also is reflected in the way he treats animals. He always thinks that this wo

42、rld is made up of two classes,the hunters and huntees. He also thinks animals have no fear so people can kill them freely. It is kind of ironic that he knows that animal can feel fear until hebecomes the huntee of Zaroff. Every creatures life in this world should be respected.Zhu9 According to this

43、part, Rainsford is kind of hypocritical and evil. Generally speaking, Zaroff, Ivan and Rainsford are evil. But Zaroff is different from these two people; at the beginning he has already accepted to kill people. At least what Rainsford does is to keep himself alive, and what Ivan does just is devoted

44、 to Zaroff. Zaroff does all the things just because he feels that it is fun to do that. From this point, Zaroff is a totally evil person from the beginning to the end. But it does not mean that all the things that are done by Rainsford and Ivan are reasonable. They are all the evil people who always

45、 care about their benefits. Readers can see the evil of human completely through these three persons.In addition to the characters, special things also influence the story deeply. For the interests of highlighting the evil of the human, the writer uses many special things. The first thing is the dar

46、k and scaring environment including dark sea, odd castle and furry forest. These things strengthen the thrilling atmosphere for the horrible plots and provide a good place for characters to show their evil. In addition, there is also a special dining room of Zaroff. There are many heads of many anim

47、als in the room, which shows the cruelty of Zaroff. He is not satisfied about just killing animals but he also wants to cut their heads. This dining room indicates that Zaroff is crazy about hunting, so it is reasonable that he chooses human as his new huntee. According to this, readers can see his

48、evilness obviously.There still one thing to be paid attention, the lifestyle of Zaroff. By observing his table manner, it is evident that he loves wines, delicate appointments and deliciousZhu10 food. Furthermore, these things represent the life style of upper class. Zaroff also says that he does hi

49、s best to preserve civilization in this place. But as we all know, what he does is far away from civilization. What he says is sharply contrasted to what he actually dose. In this way, these things strengthen the effects of irony, and tell readers Zaroff is a totally evil man.After the analyses of s

50、pecial things, readers can notice the language of this short story is also very special.Sometimes the word has the fetal disadvantage, it can easily become pale and weak. Furthermore it is very difficult to bring readers into the real situations, especially these kind of thrilling settings. However,

51、 author doesnt let them down. This story only has 8000 words but it gives them the same feeling as a movie. The most remarkable feature of this story is the brevity of the language. The writer seldom tells all the things directly. For example, when they talk about the huntees of Zaroff, none of them

52、 points out the humtee is human but reader can easy know it is human. Whats more, unlike other writers use plenty of words to stress the thrilling scenes of fighting; Mr. Connell leaves more things for readers to guess. This style of writhing is an effective way to strengthen the atmosphere. Readers

53、 can imagine these horrible and evil things by their own imagination. With the help of imagination, the evil of human can be expanded and enriched.Brevity is not always the style of the language. As I have mentioned before, this author is focused on the vivid description of the environment, such asI t was set on ahigh bluff and on the three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea lickedZhu11 greedy lips in the shadow sIt. can be said without exaggeration that the descriptions of the environment contribute to deepening the thrilling atmosphere. T